ELLA Guide: City-level Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

Contents

Abstract

Latin American cities are under increasing pressure from rapid
urbanisation, while current impacts and potential threats from climate
change are further exposing municipal vulnerabilities. City planners are
responding to these twin pressures with innovations in climate-related
policies and are making big strides in terms of climate change
mitigation and adaptation.

Key Lessons:

Cities account for the majority of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions
(75%) and municipal leaders have authority over many of the sectors
that produce these emissions (75% on average), making widespread
urban-level mitigation measures a superb opportunity to tackle global
climate change, while simultaneously improving local quality of life.

Municipal leaders in Latin America are working to capture these
opportunities through city-level actions and commitments, as
participants in networks of similarly climate-concerned cities, as
signatories of inter-municipal agreements, and as partners with
international NGOs.

Even if the world quickly transitions to a low-carbon economy, our
societies will still face the impacts of climate change set in motion
from past decades of emissions, however the costs of future adaptation
measures are dramatically reduced by current mitigation initiatives.
This perspective is reflected in the comprehensive municipal climate
action plans of Quito, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City.